Jumanji – Who did it better?

João says:

The “problem” that many people talk about is the number of remakes, reboots and new versions of old properties against new and original content, and it looks like its just becoming bigger and bigger.

I had this discussion so many times, and my position is not usually very popular.
I don’t see movies as being new, reboots or remakes, for me movies are good, bad or something in the middle.
In my mind I don’t believe there are any movies that sacred, movies that no one should touch them.

If this were the case, the original “Jumanji” would be one of those, and we would never get this new hilarious version.
Instead of being against remakes we should just make sure that who is doing them has a cool perspective, has something that can add to the story and make it original.

With that out of the way, let’s look to both of this movies without the nostalgia or the remake glasses on and just see them from what they are.

Jumanji (1995)⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Let’s start by saying that this is not a movie for every kid, in many ways its dark and scary, even Robin Williams taught the movie was “too scary” for his kids to watch, they were seven at the time.
Still, there is something magical about it, something that cant be explained and somehow it turns into one of the best family movies ever made in my opinion.

With any other actor, most of this movies would be pretty average and not memorable as they are.

In “Jumanji” he made us believe that the grown man we are seeing was still a kid inside, he made us feel his pain of being away and lost on is own, but he could always make us laugh when things got too heavy.
The rest of the cast was also excellent, Scarlett Johansson was up for the part, but Kirsten Dunst ended up getting it, after blowing every one mind with her role in “Interview with the Vampire” just a year before.

It’s not a surprise, many of us seem to have forgotten but she is a fantastic actress.

Bonnie Hunt was also great and helped Robin Williams character to look more relatable, and it balanced sometimes the over the top character of Williams.

The concept was the other key to making this movie critic-proof, the audience didn’t care for many of its faults, it was fun, and it made everyone feel good even with all the scares.

It still holds up today, the special effects are not mind-blowing anymore, but you don’t care because it warms your heart.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)⭐⭐⭐⭐

How do you remake a classic and beloved movie, so the fans don’t hate you?
First, you don’t, you make a sequel, you bring the story to the present society, you adopt the concept, so it’s relatable.

The new Jumanji did all that and more, it brought together one of the best casts ever, the chemistry of every single actor in this movie is outstanding, and the writers knew this, they bounced them off each other and made the public fall in love with them.

This was a movie that when it came out looked like it would do ok but wasn’t a juggernaut, guess what its almost at 1 billion dollars box office worldwide, and all because it could hold the buzz.

Dwayne Johnson we all know is one of the biggest stars on the planet, but many said he could not open a franchise on his own. Well, I believe we still don’t know if he can or not, this movie is as much his success as it is Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and even Karen Gillan that many of us saw her before in “Guardians of the galaxy” as Nebula but don’t recognize her.

The details were for me what made this movie great.

The details in the adaptation of the concept with the board game turning into a computer game, the aspects of the “computer characters” that repeat and glitch making it fit the narrative.
But mostly the detail of these different kids trapped in this fantastic actors bodies and how they brought the little nuances to life and many times I was looking at Jack Black and all I could see was a teenage girl.

One of the aspects I believe this movie did better than the original, is the message.

The message is stronger, it shows that what is inside is what matters, that we should not judge others by how they look.

And its just fun, so much fun, probably the movie that Jas and I had more fun watching together last year.

Verdict:

Its close, very close but because of the magic that it still has after almost 25 years I have to give it to the original, but can’t wait to see where they will go next with this fantastic cast.

Jasmine says:

Jumanji has changed the cinematic universe.

Robbie Williams has made such a strange but also a funny character.

It made me so happy when heard that it wasn’t the end of the Jumanji story.
And super happy when they said they were making a new story, not a remake.

The reason for that was that no one and I mean no one can remake the talent of Robbie Williams.
Filling Robbie Williams shoes on your own is an impossible task for anyone, but I got some confidence knowing they got 3 of my favorite actors to do it together, I love Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart.

When I found out that Robbie Williams had past away I was pretty sad. Really sad, but I will always remember him and laugh with him in is movies.

Anyways let’s roll the dice…

Jumanji (1995) ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Original.
Classic.
Life changing.

These are the words that explain this movie and of course this magical game.

The movie is so unique and smart like no one has ever seen anything like it before.

This movie also brings many memories to me. When I first watched this movie, I was pretty young.
I watched it with guess who?
My dad! At first, I was quite scared of it but not anymore.
After that day I watched it over and over again, my mum and I started to make it a bit more exciting.
So when it used to be the rain part, we used to put the blanket over our heads and pretend to block out the rain.
Then when it used to be the boat part we used to cover our faces with the blanket.

Robbie Williams has changed my life, he can be serious but funny at the same time, and that showed me that when I grow up, I can still be a little bit silly.
I just wish that they added a tiny bit more humor into it since it is a kind of serious.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Oh my God, how this movie made me laugh.

THE ROCK, JACK BLACK, AND KEVIN HART!

It is just too much fun!

First of all, I would like to say what an incredible cast this is.

They had such a fresh and unique twist to the movie.

I have so many things I love about this movie.

I love how it starts with the board game at the beginning then ditches it so the board game adapts to the new century and becomes a video game so it can intrigue people to play it.
Love how the weaker less appreciated teens are turned into, the stronger, better-looking ones.

Jack Black makes this movie so good and absolutely funny. How he acts so feminine and flirty, he shows how many of us can’t live without their phones and made me look at that differently.

He also shows the stereotypical people that you can be pretty and smart at the same time. That everyone has a place and role in society.

Verdict:

I cant pick; I love them both.
One is a classic masterpiece that makes me happy the other is just so much fun that I can’t stop laughing, so for me is a tie.

So because of my dads pick I think the Original wins, but who cares, watch them both.

[…] But to be honest with a price tag of 150 million dollars and “Avengers: infinity war” I don’t know if it will have time to become such a huge hit, but Dwayne proved us wrong before, even this year with “Jumanji”. (check our “Jumanji” review here) […]